Clinical Psychologists: Friendship Bench

Deadline: 4 March 2022

Location: Harare, Midlands, Mashonaland East, Matabeleland and Masvingo

Duration: March to October 2022

About

Friendship Bench is a non-profit dedicated to creating safe spaces and a sense of belonging for millions of individuals who currently lack access to quality mental health care. Guided by values of empathy and connection, and anchored in over a decade of rigorous research, Friendship Bench has re-imagined the delivery of evidence based mental healthcare in low-resource settings by training community health workers (also known as lay health workers or affectionately known as ‘grandmothers’ to provide basic Cognitive Behavioral therapy, with an emphasis on Problem Solving Therapy, a well facilitated peer-led support groups.

According to the WHO, 90% of people in Africa who need access to depression care do not get it because of the substantial treatment gap that exists. The ratio of psychologists to patients on the continent is 1:1.5 million. As the COVID 19 Pandemic continues to rage in Sub-Saharan Africa and other low resource settings, the incidence and prevalence of depression caused by the loss of loved ones and the need to physically isolate continues to escalate. It is against this background that Friendship Bench in partnership with OPHID and the Ministry of Health and Child Care to strengthen Zimbabwe’s COVID 19 response and increase uptake of COVID 19 vaccines and respond to COVID 19 through the provision of mental health care services to Healthcare Workers affected by COVID 19 throughout Zimbabwe using the Friendship Bench Open-line platform.

Roles and responsibilities

The Clinical Psychologists will report to the Friendship Bench’s Associate Programs Director and will work in close collaboration with OPHID COVID Go program team , MOHCC Mental health Unit and local networks of mental health professionals to plan, recover and respond to the mental health needs of Health Care Workers through the adaptation of existing ‘Tools to Thrive, upskilling of existing mental health professionals, establish a dedicated hotline for Health Care Workers and decentralized access to support in Zimbabwe. To develop Self-Care Workbooks and social media awareness information tailored to health care workers.

The Clinical Psychologists will be responsible for the following where it relates to provision of mental health and psychosocial support of HCWs: To participate and provide clinical input in the adaptation process of scripts, prompts and selfcare materials; To disseminate information about the program and HCW Tools to Thrive tools prior to the intervention to increase uptake of the program; To provide clinical supervision to Intern Clinical Psychologists manning the hotline; To provide appropriate therapy to HCWs with red flags or those referred for stepped up care; To identify and provide group selfcare sessions in COVID 19 hotspot facilities to frontline health care workers; To collect and send data on all individual and group sessions conducted; Produce monthly reports and a final report of all the activities.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Sciences degree in Psychology or related field, Masters’ degree in Clinical Psychology from a recognized university; Registered as a Clinical Psychologist with the Allied Health Practitioners Council; Minimum of three years relevant clinical work experience in provision of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other psychotherapies in a recognized mental health institution required; Knowledge and skills in implementation of programs is an added advantage.